Designated the capital city of Kazakhstan in the late 1990s, Astana boasts a landscape glittering with new architecture and construction projects as the government infrastructure continues to be built. Old and new quarters of the city are divided by the Ishim River, with older, Soviet era structures on the north side while the governmental quarter and monuments like the monolithic Bayerek Tower spread out to the south. The central Avenue of the Republic is a hub of entertainment and business.